Mosaic Harmony To Perform at Fundraiser Benefitting Educate The Girls Inc. at UU Church of Arlington

Aug. 30, 2010 - PRLog -- Oakton, VA — Mosaic Harmony, an award-winning, interfaith, multicultural community choir based in Northern Virginia, was selected to perform at the fall fundraiser benefiting Educate The Girls Inc, a partnership project between The Women of Kanoni, Uganda and Educate The Girls Inc.  The concert marks the first concert of the choir's 18th season and the first time fundraiser being held to benefit Educate The Girls.

Educate The Girls Inc., was founded by Elaine Kessler and Nancy Veldhuis who also serve as the co-chairs for the fundraiser concert.  The organization was born thanks to a visit Nancy made to her husband in Uganda and subsequently meeting the Women of the Kanoni.  Upon hearing their story on why they created the baskets to earn money to send their daughter’s and neighbors’ daughters to school, Nancy returned home and after relaying the story to friends, they all began informally sponsoring girls in school there.  One of these friends was Elaine, who had spent many years volunteering with Women for Women International, almost from its founding by Zainab Salbi when volunteers out of a tiny office with one phone line ran it, to the much larger organization that has been featured on Oprah, CNN, and other media outlets. "We can do this on a small scale, or we can do something much bigger, to help more people," Nancy said. They decided to do something bigger and Educate The Girls, Inc. was created.  The beautiful, intricately weaved baskets are sent from the Women of Kanoni and sold at various local events most often during the holiday season with all profits sent back for the specific purpose of educating girls.  Kanoni is a trading center of about 40 dwellings and a number of small shops in rural Uganda, about 60 miles from Kampala. The culture of Uganda is male-centered, which in practical terms means girls have a difficult time obtaining an education, even in the primary grades. Girls account for 47 percent of total primary school enrollment, and in some rural villages they account for only 35 percent. The percentages drop as they progress through the grades.

Although primary education is supposed to be free for four children in a family (including two girls), families tend to be larger—often ranging from 9 to 13 children in a family. In addition, the culture of Uganda requires that, from an early age, girls work in the household garden plots or away from the home in manual labor to add to the family income. They often come to school tired, without breakfast, or they do not come at all because of the demands of their work. Some families decide not to “waste” money on a daughter’s education because she can get married at age 13. In extreme poverty, a family will “sell” a young girl to an older man as a housekeeper or wife. The women of Kanoni identified these barriers and decided to do something about it.

They realize that girls need skills to enable them to earn money and that they need to enroll in school, stay, and excel there. They have involved the girls in a number of income generating projects, teaching them basketmaking, sewing, and animal husbandry. The profits from these projects pay school fees and purchase school supplies and school clothing. The girls know they are the future of their country, and are eager to go to school.  The economic poverty of this area limits the market for their baskets. Educate The Girls, Inc., now brings their baskets to North American and returns the profits to the Kanoni women’s group for the education of the girls. Our partnership helped them “buy back” a young girl who was sold by her family and enroll her in school.

Nancy noted, “The focus of this event is to send money to Uganda to pay school fees in both primary and secondary schools as well as purchase textbooks and we’re very excited that Mosaic Harmony will be a part of this event”.  Elaine will be featured on Blog Talk Radio with Black Bag Productions on Saturday, October 2 at 2:00pm discussing the organization and the concert.  

Tickets in advance are $20 and $15 for students and seniors aged 62 and over, $5 for kids 12 and under, all tickets are $5.00 more at the door.  In addition, sponsorship opportunities are available between $25 and $600 and can be purchased until September 26.  The concert will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, 4444 George Mason Drive, Arlington, Virginia on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 7:00pm and is open to the public.

Educate The Girls Inc., is a 501(c)(3) organization and for more information on Educate The Girls, please visit them on the web at www.educatethegirls.org  For more information on Mosaic Harmony and their performance schedule, visit them on the web at www.mosaicharmony.org

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Mosaic Harmony’s concerts are high-energy, inspiring performances that leave their audiences feeling uplifted and encouraged. Music performed by the choir includes traditional and contemporary gospel to new music written by its dynamic and talented director, the Reverend David K. North. Mosaic Harmony draws on the rich heritage of African-American inspirational music to demonstrate and encourage unity in the midst of diversity. Mosaic Harmony brings together people of diverse cultures, ages, backgrounds, and more than 17 faith traditions to celebrate humanity. Their mission is to unify the world, one song at a time.